Marginal Anti-Israel Group Alters Holocaust Photo to Condemn Israel

December 2, 2014

A Facebook group called “I Acknowledge Apartheid Exists,” with over 91,000 fans, recently posted a photoshopped picture of Holocaust survivors holding signs that read “Stop the Holocaust in Gaza,” “Gaza, the world’s biggest concentration camp,” “Stop U.S. aid to Israel,” and “Break the silence on Gaza!!” Below the picture was text that stated, “Whatever happened to ‘Never again?’” [sic].

The “I Acknowledge Apartheid Exists” group was founded on March 30, 2013 and its administrators frequently post images that delegitimize Israel and describe it as a “terrorist nation.” Recent posts include an image that described the State of Israel as “Nazi Israel” and another that stated “End genocide in Gaza.” Other posts ended with hashtags such as “#StopTheNazis” and “#StopIsrael.”

The group’s Communications Director, Derek Hummel, told TheRealNews.com in an April 2013 interview that the page was briefly shut down by Facebook because of complaints that were submitted by users who were offended by content that the group was posting. He added that Facebook reversed the decision shortly thereafter and that a fan of the page had written to tell them that, “an army of Jews were out to disband our Facebook page.” Hummel claimed, “the very next day, we were shut down.”

Comparing Israelis to Nazis during a protest in front of the Holocaust Museum in Houston, January 16, 2009. Source: Jewish Herald-Voice, Houston

Protesters at anti-Israel rallies that took place during Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense in November 2012 also used similar rhetoric, calling for an end to “the Nazi occupation of Gaza,” describing Gaza as today’s “Warsaw Ghetto” and accusing Israel of committing a genocide and massacre of the Palestinian people. That sort of rhetoric was also used during rallies and demonstrations that followed Operation Cast Lead.

One of those examples took place in Houston where the Houston Coalition for Justice and Peace staged anti-Israel protests and demonstrations around the city. At one of those rallies, which took place outside of the Holocaust Museum in Houston, participants wore mock concentration camp prisoner uniforms and looked to charge Israel with the crime of “genocide” against the Palestinians.

Student groups have also used Holocaust imagery to condemn Israel and its supporters on many occasions. An example of this took place less than a month ago when the University of Central Florida’s Students for Justice in Palestine (UCF SJP) chapter posted a graphic on their Facebook page that showed a face with a swastika talking to what appears to be a face with an Israeli flag. The face with the swastika said, “You aren’t a real human race! DIE!” and below it was a similar picture that showed a face with an Israeli flag talking to a face with a Palestinian flag, stating, “You aren’t a real human race! DIE!” Above the image, UCF SJP wrote, “History, unfortunately, has repeated itself.”